DRM and always on for a bright Gaming future - EA busted simcity release

[caketastydelish]

EA customers shouldn't be laughing ...
... if/when EA folds, ALL customer's games are lost.

Why is this inherently a bad thing? It's capitalism at it's best. It's like this:

Company X does something that pisses off consumers/makes them feel ripped off.

Consumers quit buying products from company X.

Companies WYZ which make similar products are scared of what happened to company X, so they will never go down that same path in fear of going out of business like company X did.

If EA going out is what it takes to prevent the video game industry from going down a path that the vast majority of gamers are upset with, I see that as fair game.

 

[AlpsStranger]

It would suck for Battlefield 3 fans and such, but I don't think EA has anyone but themselves to thank.

SimCity had a "rough launch" and then, once I was able to play it for a while, it was the most shallow and stupid city simulator I have ever tried.

 

[RD-BH]

That would actually be a good thing. If people are too dumb to understand when to draw a line, maybe being actually burned a bit will teach them.

But don't keep your hopes high, EA has already rebounded several times.

Why is this inherently a bad thing? It's capitalism at it's best. It's like this:

Company X does something that pisses off consumers/makes them feel ripped off.

Consumers quit buying products from company X.

Companies WYZ which make similar products are scared of what happened to company X, so they will never go down that same path in fear of going out of business like company X did.

If EA going out is what it takes to prevent the video game industry from going down a path that the vast majority of gamers are upset with, I see that as fair game.

I agree. ( for whatever that's worth )

 

[Mise]

http://imgur.com/a/gW7F9

SimCity is megabroke lol

Basically the guy zoned for 100% residential, no firestations, police, hospitals, schools, sewage, water, or power, and set the taxes to 0%. Then he left it on cheetah speed for 10 years or so et voila! A thriving city of 1.8m people! What exactly they do all day is anyone's guess, being as there's no shops, offices or industry, but hey, welcome to SimCity: Libterian Utopia!

sauce: http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/1bb604/i_present_to_you_megabumtopia_one_1801800/

 

[Crezth]

^

That's just realism. It is a realistic depiction of how cities work - would work - when taxes are set to zero. No government no problems.

 

[woody60707]

http://imgur.com/a/gW7F9

SimCity is megabroke lol

Basically the guy zoned for 100% residential, no firestations, police, hospitals, schools, sewage, water, or power, and set the taxes to 0%. Then he left it on cheetah speed for 10 years or so et voila! A thriving city of 1.8m people! What exactly they do all day is anyone's guess, being as there's no shops, offices or industry, but hey, welcome to SimCity: Libterian Utopia!

sauce: http://www.reddit.com/r/SimCity/comments/1bb604/i_present_to_you_megabumtopia_one_1801800/

That was a sandbox build. It's just a given that a meteor will fall on your city and start fires.

 

[Zelig]

That was a sandbox build. It's just a given that a meteor will fall on your city and start fires.

No, that wasn't a sandbox build.

 

[Crezth]

That was a sandbox build. It's just a given that a meteor will fall on your city and start fires.

Why bother lying? You can literally boot up the game right now and do exactly what he did.

 

[AlpsStranger]

It's astounding how busted SimCity really is.

Fortunately, I was able to get PayPal on my side and wash my hands of the whole mess. Undid the whole sordid purchase and got my $85 back.

 

[woody60707]

Why bother lying? You can literally boot up the game right now and do exactly what he did.

I have, I couldn't do it. Other people have tried too that I play simcity with from TL.net, we have several regions we play on. No other have been able able to get past a few 100,000's pop, and it was none stop bulldozing from fires.

I know, It's the internet, and people would never lie on here. But maybe just this once someone wasn't 100% honest about what they posted. And maybe (and this is a huge intellectual leap to even question this) this gentleman (as if the common rabble would be on the internet) simply posted this for attention?

EDIT: Let me explain why this would work on a limited base, but why this wouldn't work as a "build" The way "sims" work is they start off 100% happiness when they move in your city. No matter how crappy your city is, Sims will always move in your city. This is one of the reason 100% residential builds work (but screw over the rest of region). With no utilities or taxes, there is no way to get money. You need money to build roads (which sims use to build homes on). So first you need to bank a lot of money or play the game normally until you get to this point of the game where you can make high density streets/avenues and then bulldoze everything in your city that cost money so you can run 0% taxes. But uneducated sims are always starting fires, or getting sick and injured. And if that wasn't happening to your own sims, you will also have to deal with arsonist and just evil do-ers coming from other cities from the region to your city. And if all else fails, you will have to deal with the random UFO, Monster, Zombies, earthquake or falling meteors. All of which will start fires and make your people generally unhappy.

 

[warpus]

It's astounding how busted SimCity really is.

Fortunately, I was able to get PayPal on my side and wash my hands of the whole mess. Undid the whole sordid purchase and got my $85 back.

$85? What the.. are you Australian or something?

 

[AlpsStranger]

No, I bought the special edition thing.

 

[warpus]

I wouldn't spend $85 on a hooker let alone a video game

I hope you learned your lesson

 

[woody60707]

I wouldn't spend $85 on a hooker let alone a video game

I hope you learned your lesson

$60 dollars is a steal now of days. What are you talking about?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

$85? What the.. are you Australian or something?

This was exactly my reaction in the All Other Games thread on this.

 

[God of Kings]

Well I am here and I have created a rather popular petition to remove the Origin requirement from SimCity (2013), as well as bringing back other popular features. Note that I am the Urban Cartographer there (I used that for Simtropolis as well).

I am strongly opposed to any kind of always-online DRM for games meant for single player. MMOs however I do not mind, as it is the nature of the game.

There are many free-to-play MMOs such as Allods Online (which is among the least pay-to-win MMOs, despite it being considered pay-to-win).

Me, Origin and Steam are both restrictive DRM. I do not play much video games anymore (console or PC). I am not a fan of dark and gritty games (yes, I have an extremely limited choice of games that interest me).

 

[woody60707]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/piracy

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/global-games-brazil

Always on is pretty much one of the best ways to go with DRM (Not have DRM isn't a option). Steam and StarCraft work great. And for some places outside the US, piracy IS the corner game market.

 

[Ajidica]

Steam really isn't that bad. You can always turn the online component off and have no problems.

 

[Crezth]

I have, I couldn't do it. Other people have tried too that I play simcity with from TL.net, we have several regions we play on. No other have been able able to get past a few 100,000's pop, and it was none stop bulldozing from fires. ...

Huh. The SomethingAwful thread reported great success copying this guy's methods.

 

[woody60707]

Huh. The SomethingAwful thread reported great success copying this guy's methods.

Riddle me this batman, how are taxes set to zero if there are no utility builds?

(for people who don't play simcity, you need a town hall to adjust taxes. A town hall cost 200/hr)